


Babyhawke

by Cameron_McKell



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Epiphanies, Gen, Kid Fic, M/M, Magic, Pining
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-31
Updated: 2014-12-31
Packaged: 2018-03-04 14:13:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3071141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cameron_McKell/pseuds/Cameron_McKell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Due to unusual circumstances, Tony finds himself taking care of a baby Steve. At least he wasn't dead, but that's not something Tony's prepared to think about.</p>
<p>Steve, on the other hand, doesn't exactly know what happened, or how he got back to the tower, but there's a little dark-haired toddler that looks so much like Tony it makes his chest ache. Until his parents are located, he'll just have to look after the little guy himself.</p>
<p>Both of them are looking for answers, but they also keep losing time... Hopefully they'll manage to figure out what's happened to them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Babyhawke

**Author's Note:**

  * For [royal_chandler](https://archiveofourown.org/users/royal_chandler/gifts).



> I'm really sorry this is incomplete - I haven't been feeling well for a while now - but this is what I've got so far, and I'll try to get the rest up as soon as I can. Again, I'm so, so sorry.

“Your skills are _most_ impressive, Captain,” the warlock – or maybe he was a sorcerer – remarked with false respect, still obviously sure of his inherent superiority.

 

“Thanks!” Steve chirped with calculated lightness while vaulting over the hood of a Mercedes that had been turned to wood, deliberately trying to simultaneously keep the would-be supervillain's focus on him – and not on, say, fleeing civilians or the city's power grid – in addition to psychologically unsettling the man who looked an _awful_ lot like a toadstool, in the hopes that a broken concentration might cause his spells to fail or reverse.

 

“But!” The myconid magi interrupted with a huff and a flash of multicolored lights in order to assert his 'dominance,' or something. “You weren't always this... 'impressive', were you,  _Captain_ ?”

 

_“I think our little fungal friend is annoyed, Cap.”_ Tony's voice crackled to life over Steve's earpiece, and it took effort to keep the grin off his face.

 

The plan was working.

 

“I've been like this long enough to know that  _you_ haven't; surrender, and we'll help return you to your natural state.”

 

Still, it would have been better if the other Avengers hadn't been out of town for this little adventure.

 

“Silence!” the little man shouted in a fit of cliché, even going so far as to stamp his foot against the heap of debris he stood on. A small collection of rock and cement dust tumbled from the pile at the action, and Steve used the distraction they caused to get into position for a game-ending throw. If he started with the lamppost on the other side of the street...

 

“I am perfect,” he continued and flailed out an arm; partway down the street, a taxicab turned into a giant yellow rabbit, but immediately began to warp and stretch, and otherwise having trouble staying in that shape. As a minor miracle, at least as far as Steve was concerned, it didn't look like the bunny-cab was experiencing any pain. “ – I have transformed into a being  _far beyond_ what I ever was. Your meager understandings can't come close to even one  _tenth_ –”

 

_“Seriously, that guy needs to give it a rest,”_ Tony interrupted, while the spore-covered spellcaster continued his ranting in the background unaware.  _“I'm tempted to see what would happen to his 'perfect' self if we dumped some of that anti-foot fungus powder on him. Or do you suppose he's molded all the way through?”_

 

“Pretty sure chemical warfare's frowned upon,” Steve finally responded, plans and trajectories settling in place in his head; all he needed was one final thing. “What's your status?”

 

_“Forest of giant mushrooms torched, all civilians in a five block radius have been evacuated, further out's still in-progress, and... There; all police kangaroos have been successfully wrangled. I'm heading back your way so we can finish this.”_

 

Mushroom Man's rant seemed to be coming to a close, so Tony's timing was actually kind of perfect. “Copy that. Come in fast and low; I'll set him up for you.”

 

Steve readied his throw, and something about the movement must have shown off one of his uniform's bright colors, because the little wizard turned to look his way, surrounded by a full rainbow of multicolored light.

 

“But what am I saying,” he concluded with a haughty chuckle. “I am beyond your comprehension. Because no matter how 'impressive' you are now...” He trailed off for dramatic effect, and raised his hands.

 

Steve didn't bother to wait for him to finish, and rolled free of his cover to throw the shield.

 

It whizzed past the guy's cap – or head, it was hard to tell whether or not it was attached – with six inches to spare, and he laughed as if Steve had missed or something. The sound of the Iron Man suit's repulsors came screaming up the street somewhere behind Steve.

 

“Originally, you were _nothing,_ ” The little man said gravely with a surprisingly cruel smile for how mediocre his attack had been so far, and prepared to throw another multicolored spell.

 

Then everything went wrong.

 

The debris pile – having already proved itself unstable at the little outburst earlier – suddenly shifted. The would-be mushroom king staggered to the side at the sudden movement – unfortunately moving out of the shield's return path, when it had originally been aimed to knock into him from behind – and he flailed his arms. During one particular flail, the multicolored spell light was flung from his hand – shockingly fast, which toppled the little man backwards over the debris pile in accordance to the laws of physics – right toward a still-unarmed Steve.

 

“Steve!” Tony's voice came in a sort of bizarre stereo, and the last thing Steve felt was a pair of metal-covered arms wrapping around his waist – Tony was probably trying to push him out of the way or shield him from the blast, if his self-sacrificing streak was anything to go by – then there was an explosion of colorful light.

 

* * *

 

As the kaleidoscope of colorful afterimages faded from his eyes, Tony clutched at the bundle in his hands and looked around wildly.

 

“Cap?!”

 

The shield clattered and skidded along the ground several feet away where its trajectory ended since Steve hadn't caught it, but other than the half-rabbit half-car a little way down the street and himself, the street was empty.

 

Panicking wasn't going to help anything, but he did it anyway.

 

“Steve?!”

 

He heard the sound of shifting fabric as he maybe dashed around trying to see Steve, and suddenly remembered that he hadn't been holding a bundle in his arms a few minutes before.

 

Upon looking down, he nearly dropped it. He didn't, though, and that was a _very_ good thing, because it appeared that he was holding a baby. The baby was absolutely _tiny_ , and blond, probably a boy judging by his... awfully old-fashioned clothes...

 

The little baby looked at him, and Tony would have recognized _those_ blue eyes anywhere.

 

“This can't be good.”

 

The little baby – _Steve_ – began to tremble a little, then, and Tony tried to maneuver the _utterly miniscule_ body closer to one of the suit's heat exhausts instead of the front of the suit that had been chilled by flight until a moment ago, without dropping him, or crushing him, or, you know, crying or something.

 

He needed to get back to the Tower.

 

All the other Avengers were out of town, so they weren't going to get a pick up.

 

Steve would freeze – in a 'probably not stasis' kind of way, too – if he tried to fly the two of them without some insulation. Not to mention a safety harness or twelve.

 

“Don't worry, Steve; I can fix this,” he promised in the softest, most soothing tone of voice in his repertoire.

 

“... Somehow.”

 


End file.
